Have you seen an interresting non-Fiero today?

[pgackerman]

About 10 Model A Ford's at Old MacDonald's Fish Camp.

[Fierofool]

Saw quite a few really nice custom classics and rods roaming around in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains today.

[GTRS Fiero]

Hopefully they're going home and mention those Fieros roaming around in NC & TN.

[GTRS Fiero]

Saw this today:


I know what it is.  This one was immaculate.  Even in the '80's, most of these were non-running rust buckets, but this one was running over 100MPH.  I was running much more slowly, so this was the best pic I got.

[Fierofool]

My sister had a 240 and both front fenders were rusted out at the bottom and stood out like an old hen with her wings spread to protect her chicks.

Mel and I were in the stages of buying a 2+2 but we overcame the lust and decided that in reality, it wasn't suitable for use as a family car, so it was a Honda Accord that graced the driveway. 

[GTRS Fiero]

The side mirrors are at odd angles, on this one.  I know is has 240Z on the plate surround, but to me it is a 2000z, powered by honda.  I always thought it was funny that the honda people bragged about honda reliability, and bashed the engine and transmission reliability of the 2000z.

The original Cuda was a bit before me, but I always heard they were unreliable.  No one ever explained why.  For the 2000z, they were always broken down, but so were the other honda-powered vehicles.  Our pastor had a civic that went forward with one set of wheels, and backward with the other set.  I think I towed that honda 10 miles for every 1 it moved under its own power.

I'm trying to remember the tires that were stock on the 2000z.  I seem to remember them being more high-profile than the set in the pic.  I remember ugly steel wheels.  I don't recall the side skirt ground effects, but they certainly look out of place in the pic.

We had a hill, and the problematic cars used to break down climbing the hill.  A gas station was built there.  About 9 2000z's were abandoned there, along with other cars.  Eventually, a service station was added to that gas station.  Later, a car dealership opened across the street, and a junk yard opened a ways away from the service station.  The service station went out of business, but the junk yard got a lot of these cars, and the car dealership expanded.  The church we attended was within sight of the service station.  While waiting before or after services, we used to sit by the road, then try to guess by sound what car was coming up the hill, and if the car was going to give up the ghost or not.

[TopNotch]

Linda's sister had a Honda-powered 2002 Saturn Vue, which Linda's son inherited. It developed a strange problem of dying once it warmed up, which neither he or I was able to solve despite replacing all the parts recommended by various online sources. Meanwhile, my 2001 Ford Escape still runs fine. I had to replace a few parts on it over the years, but nothing un-fixable. Similar vehicles, similar mileage, similar engines.

[Raydar]

...
The original Cuda was a bit before me, but I always heard they were unreliable.  No one ever explained why.  For the 2000z, they were always broken down, but so were the other honda-powered vehicles.

I don't know about the original Cuda, but I had a 65 Valiant, which is what the first Barracuda was based on. (Actually the first was 64. A friend actually has a line on one.)
The Valiant was one of the most solid cars I have ever driven, but it was a hand-me-down from my mom. It got sold with under 100K on the odo.

I did have a 73 Barracuda and then a 71 Barracuda. The build quality was, in a word, poor.
The 73 actually had 2x4s between the seat tracks and the floor. I thought that someone had added them, to raise the seat, but when I tried to remove them, the seat studs were way too long, so I have to believe they were "as-built".
Other than that, it was typical early 70s Mopar quality. (The trunk lid actually rang when you slammed it.)
Unfortunately, it had NO options. No power anything. No air. It was a bare-bones 318/automatic car. Which led to the 71 Barracuda...

The 71 was fairly well appointed. Had a 318, 3 speed in the floor, PS, A/C, Rally gauges, Magnum 500 wheels, hounds tooth upholstery, and a console-mounted cassette player/recorder. It was also a crap can. It was already in the process of being reclaimed by Mother Nature, by the time I bought it, in 1977 or so.  It always had a vibration in the driveline, like the driveshaft was out of balance. It had the mother of all clutches in it. It almost took two feet to press the pedal.
Last time I saw it was about a year after I had sold it. It was off the side of the road, near my house. Had skidded off during one of our uncommon snow storms.

(I added the wing and the "twin trucker" CB antennas.)

[GTRS Fiero]

Linda's sister had a Honda-powered 2002 Saturn Vue, which Linda's son inherited. It developed a strange problem of dying once it warmed up, which neither he or I was able to solve despite replacing all the parts recommended by various online sources. Meanwhile, my 2001 Ford Escape still runs fine. I had to replace a few parts on it over the years, but nothing un-fixable. Similar vehicles, similar mileage, similar engines.

There is no substitute for quality.

[GTRS Fiero]

Not my favorite color, but that 'Cuda looks nice.  Gee, did our spoilers really used to look like that?

Most of my vehicles in the early years were trucks.  A '42 Ford, a '68 Dodge, a '77 GMC, a '78 Chevrolet.  All purchased used, and yes, the Ford did last the longest.  I don't remember why we sold the first 2.  The GMC burned up the V6, so we swapped in a V8, which made the truck tail-happy.  The Chevrolet was one someone rebuilt after a wreck.  We should have kept the GMC.  Everything was done wrong on that Chevrolet, but it was almost new, in miles and age.

[GTRS Fiero]

My dad had a Valiant.  I never saw it.  I should've listened to his story more closely.

[MikeMac]

The side mirrors are at odd angles, on this one.  I know is has 240Z on the plate surround, but to me it is a 2000z, powered by honda.  I always thought it was funny that the honda people bragged about honda reliability, and bashed the engine and transmission reliability of the 2000z

The original Cuda was a bit before me, but I always heard they were unreliable.  No one ever explained why.  For the 2000z, they were always broken down, but so were the other honda-powered vehicles.  Our pastor had a civic that went forward with one set of wheels, and backward with the other set.  I think I towed that honda 10 miles for every 1 it moved under its own power.

I'm trying to remember the tires that were stock on the 2000z.  I seem to remember them being more high-profile than the set in the pic.  I remember ugly steel wheels.  I don't recall the side skirt ground effects, but they certainly look out of place in the pic.

We had a hill, and the problematic cars used to break down climbing the hill.  A gas station was built there.  About 9 2000z's were abandoned there, along with other cars.  Eventually, a service station was added to that gas station.  Later, a car dealership opened across the street, and a junk yard opened a ways away from the service station.  The service station went out of business, but the junk yard got a lot of these cars, and the car dealership expanded.  The church we attended was within sight of the service station.  While waiting before or after services, we used to sit by the road, then try to guess by sound what car was coming up the hill, and if the car was going to give up the ghost or not.

2000Z? I don't remember that one...

[GTRS Fiero]

http://www.2000z.us/

[MikeMac]

The car in that link is a purpose built one off. I thought we were talking about a production car by Datsun. Now I'm really confused!

[MikeMac]

Are you talking about the Datsun 1600 roadster from the 60's?

www.hemmings.com/blog/article/datsun-1600-sports/